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Frontlight vs. Backlight

I was driving down our road very late in the afternoon/early in the evening a few days ago when I came across these cows in the road. I was driving straight north, the cows were on the west side of the road, and the sun was beginning its descent.

This is straight out of the camera. As you can see, the cow is between me and the sun; the sun is low enough in the sky not to create harsh light and shadows, but to create a gentle glow around the subject. (Yes, this is a male cow. CORRECTION: Steer. Let’s move on…nothing to see here…)

Backlight = Subject is between the photographer and the sun.

I drove down the road a little ways and saw a similar cluster of cows on the west side of the road. But instead of photographing them in the same lighting conditions, I drove onto the grass and whipped around so that the cows were east of my car.

This is a frontlight situation: The sun is behind me, and is shining directly onto the cows. Many times, this situation creates too much light on the subject and washes it out, but it was late enough in the day that the sun had lost a lot of its intensity.

Frontlight = Photographer is between the sun and the subject

It’s amazing to me how different the light and the colors are, depending on which direction you’re facing in relation to the subject and the sun.

I love backlit photos. They’re more interesting to me. They have a dreamy quality.

(Straight-out-of-camera.) But frontlit photos at this late hour of the day aren’t bad, either. This is more of a snapshot–I didn’t take the time to frame the photo very well because I had to get home and start making (and chowing down on; I was starving) dinner–but I thought the direct (yet gentle) sunlight made the cows and surrounding look pretty good.

If you have a sunny afternoon, go snap a few photos as the sun is starting to go down. Pick a subject–a tree, a person, a flower–then shift your position in relation to the subject in order to try both frontlight and backlight situations.

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http://www.heathersdish.com Heather

i absolutely love backlighting…it’s so romantic and soft and PERFECT for just about any subject!

http://jillybeanslittlenook.blogspot.com/ Jill Brunks

Ree, thank you for this explanation and the examples. I always struggle with lighting. I’m never sure which way I should be facing, which way my subject should be facing, or where the heck the sun should be. Your examples and explanation will help me greatly and I plan to go out this afternoon and practice!

http://rileymadel.blogspot.com Snippets of Thyme

I was out at sunset just the other evening working on photography. These lessons you have here a so simple but I wish I had put more of them to practice. I’ll look forward to being more aware of the ACTUAL sun the next time I go out. Thank you.

http://www.lettersfromtheloft.com mulberrytreehouse

Thanks for the challenge! I’ll give this a try. And, oh my, the light is beautiful in that area of the country. It isn’t the same everywhere, you know. Sparkly green grain fields when the sun is just going down… it makes me cry.

Jennie Hart

I love the backlight too, the cows look beautiful.

http://www.fourleafcloverdairy.blogspot.com Leontien

Well now… If i only would of win that great camera from the giveaway yesterday…

😉

Thanks! and the boys look great!
Leontien

Becky in VA

Thanks for the lighting lesson and pointing out the male “cow.”

http://www.WebSavvyMom.com WebSavvyMom

–>I need to try this more often. Usually I’m concerned about people looking into the sun and squinting so I have them in the shade or I’m facing the sun.

I actually really like the frontlight here for the clarity it provides. I get the dreamy aspect of backlit photos, but I really like the crispness that a good frontlight can give.

Either way, though, thanks for pointing out these two techniques – I had never actually differentiated them before and I’ll start thinking about them more often as I photograph now!

Sarah Frazier

Thanks for sharing!!

Yvonne

I love learning new things to do with my camera and I like that there is a name for the different types of shots.
Thanks,
Yvonne

http://livefaithfully.blogspot.com Urban Wife

I especially love the backlight pictures – cute cows! 🙂

http://www.ourgreeneracres.com Brittney - Our Greener Acres

What I love about front lighting versus back lighting is it can totally depict the mood that you are in. You can get that same dreamy quality that back lighting gives with front lighting if you take the picture about 8 minutes before the sun goes down. That’s my favorite time to shoot things!

Rene Foust

Thanks for the inspiration. I think I will try that out as soon as we get some sun around these parts.

http://www.cabinfeververmont.com Jen at Cabin Fever

I am just as in love with backlit photos as your are Ree. Late evening or early morning photos with backlit subjects are my favorite. They just seem more interesting…

I have so many pics of our cattle with a backlight. However, I never knew the terminology…never actually thought about it! Now, I can use it and people will think I know what I’m talking about! Thanks for the lesson.

http://bobbieandbunch.blogspot.com Bobbie (Cats~Goats~Quotes)

I’ll try this on The Boyz (my goats).. If they will be still long enough 🙂

Oh, I love backlit photos too. I took some pretty flower photos a few months ago that were backlit and got some nice bokeh out of it.

B Pottebaum

Nearly spit out my coffee w/ the “Yes, this is a male cow. Let’s move on…nothing to see here” comment 😉

http://www.ladystiles.blogspot.com Michelle

I totally agree, makes the subject gentile to the eye.

Sourkraut

This is a perfect demonstration of the different results you get just from switching up the lighting. Makes me think I need to find some good backlighting the next time I want to do a self-portrait so I can look more dreamy.

http://grannymountain.blogspot.com joycee

You’re just braggin’ about having sun! It’s been so long here in NW Arkansas, I’ve forgotten what it looks like… more rain on the way! I do love the dreamy quality of the backlit one and IF we ever see the sun again, I’m going to take some of those shots!

http://projectjarrett.blogspot.com/ Lindsey

What a great post. Thank you for breaking it down like that!

http://www.themoderntog.com Jamie

I think it’s also worth noting that when you backlight using the sun, your sky will almost always be white or “blown out” but when you frontlight using the sun, you almost always get beautiful skies full of color.